Nursing nipple



BEST AVAILABLE COPY Nov 2 1926. 1,605,427

A. M. DELMAS NURSING NIPPLE Filed Oct. 16, 1923 INVENTOR BY 4% 5 Wm BEST AVAILABLE COP Patented Nov. 2, 1926.

UNITED STATES ANNA. M. DELMAS, OF NORTH PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

NURSING- NIPPLE.

Applicatioii filed October 16, 1923. Serial No. 668,859.

This invention relates more particularly to a class of devices adapted to be used for feeding infants.

The forms of nipples commonly employed on nursing bottles for feeding infants are made with the main object of preventing the mouthpiece from collapsing, whether of the types having cap-shaped body parts for use on narrow neck bottles or of the types having enlarged garabolic body portions designed to simu ate the breast of a woman. Consequently the nipples which are usually made of rubber are vulcanized to a hardness which tends to irritate the mouth of the infant. Other forms having valve structural parts are made for serving to prevent col lapsing of the mouthpiece, and owing to their peculiar construction it is practically impossible to keep the nipples in thoroughly clean sanitary condition.

My invention has for its object primarily to overcome these objections by providing a device or nipple designed to be employed on nursing bottles, and which is preferably made of relatively high percentage of pure rubber so that the required softness and smoothness will be obtained to obviate liability of irritating the gums and mouth when used by an infant as well as tempting the user by its closely resembling functioning to the human breast and also to allow of being readily reversed inside-out for permitting it to be employed normally and reversely and allowing of effectual cleaning.

Another object of the invention is to provide a separate stay element which is preferably made of rubber in a flat sheet or plate adapted to be curved in a cylindrical or tubular form for removable insertion in the recessed orificed mouth or nipple member of the device to serve for preventing the member from collapsing and this sheet is provided with spaced grooves for allowing the liquid food to flow through the mouth member notwithstanding the biting of the member by the infant. This stay element being removable from the nipple proper enables it to be thoroughly cleansed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a nursing nipple of a simple and eflicient construction, and which may be made in any appropriate size and shape.

With these and other objects in view, the invention will be hereinafter more fully explained with reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification in which similar characters of"'refe'rence indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and will then be pointed out in the claims at the end of the description. 1

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a fragmentary view showing a section taken through one form of nursing nipple embodying myinvention as applled to" a feeding bottle.

on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.-

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective, view'of one1 form of stay element usedin the nipple, an 1 Fig. 4 is a sectionalf view takenthrough a slightly different form'of thenipplel '1' I The device'or nursing nipple maybe made of rubber vulcanizedto asuitable degree of resiliency, though I prefer to makethe 'device of a high percentage of pure rubber, in order to provide a softness resembling a womans breast as well as overcoming liability of rubbing and irritating the gums and mouth of an infant, besides avoiding the use of large amounts of foreign materials commonly used in the various processes of vulcanization used in making ordinary nursing nipples.

The nipple has a body portion 10 which may be of approximately a parabolic shape, as shown in Fig. 1, for enabling the nipple to be used on a well known form of nursing bottle, as 11, having a wide neck and mouth, as 12, or the body portion 10 may be of substantially a capshape', as shown in Fig. 4, to allow the nipple to be used on nursing bottles having narrow necks. On the marginal edge of the body portion 10 are formed two annular ribs or beads 13 and 14, one on the interior and one on the exterior of the body so that the nipple may be used in the normal fashion as well as when turned insideout. Extending from the central part of the body portion 10 is a mouthpiece or nipple member 15 which may be of the usual or any preferred shape having its recess 16 communicating with the concavity of the body portion, and in the free end of the nipple member 15 is provided the usual orifice 17 for the flow of liquid food to the infant.

In order to prevent the mouthpiece or nipple member 15 from collapsing or having its passage obstructed by the biting action of the user, a separate stay element, as 18, 15 provided. This stay element is preferably Fig. 2 is an enlargedsectionalview' taken in the form of a fiat sheet orplate of rubber of a substantially rectangular shape of a thickness so that when bent or curved in a cylindrical or tubular form its ends Will remain in contact Without tending to automatically overlap each other. The sheet is also of a size adapted to removably fit' snugly in the recess 16 of the nipplemember 15 to avoid liability of accidentally falling from therecess when seated in the recess, and the sheet when curved intubular form may be of alength approximately equal to the depth of the recess. On the inner face of the elastic sheet crosswisev of, its contactable edges are spaced parallel rib members 19 providing spaced grooves, as 20, for allowing liquid food to flow tlierethrough so that the infant will be fed irrespective of all biting action on the nipple. member when the device is in use, and While the form of the sheet illustrated has the spaced grooves 20 in one of its faces, forms :of the sheet having spaced grooves in both of its faces may also be made. Thus I, provide a nursing nipple which is adapted, to. be easily turned inside-out to allow of being used normallyor reversely as well as per itt n t o be thb 'o g y cleansed, and Which'ivill be prevented from BEST AVAILABLE collapsing When in use to obstruct the flow ofiliquid food.

modifications may be made therein Without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, therefore, I reserve tomyselfthe right to make such changes as fairly fall Within the scope thereof. v

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desir e'to secure by Letters Patent A stay element for use in a nursing nipple, comprising a substantially rectangular fiat plate of rubber capable of being curved into an approximatelytubula'r form fo'r'reinov able insertion in the recessed ori'ficed mouth member of the nipple and-the plate having on one of its faces protruding spaced rib members providing therebetween grooves extending across the po-site edges. I I v This specification signed and witnessed this thirteenth day .of October,A, 111923.

ANNA, M. DELMAS. 

